Draining Him Dry

Kirk walked toward the red-light district, swaggering with a pipe clenched between his teeth, a fortune in his pocket, sunglasses on his face, and a cape draped over his coat. He was acting just like Little Horse, strutting along with a self-satisfied grin. Skill upgrades and base attribute increases were available here, and he couldn't wait to see what the casinos were like.

The sunglasses on his face were the result of Kirk spotting an upgrade option for his [Tyrannosaurus Glasses]. He'd been bored out of his mind and had actually spent 2,000 Survival Points and 2 Skill Potential Points to upgrade them. After a flash of light blue, Kirk had stared speechlessly at the result. Not only had the [Tyrannosaurus Glasses] been upgraded, but their name had changed to [Helen Keller Glasses]!

[Helen Keller Glasses] level 2

[Description] You look at the world, and the world looks back at you.

[Grade] Beginner's starting equipment, upgraded to its maximum level.

[Equipment] Magic Glasses

[Effect] Can be used once every 24 hours. Spend 25 energy to view a Contractor's Survival Points, Skill Potential Points, and some or all of their Base Attribute Points. You may also pay to view the attributes of Plot Characters and monsters. An essential item for touring the Dimension, killing and looting, or traveling.

[Warning] When using this, you must pass an Insight check against the other party. If you fail, they will receive a notification and may retaliate. If the target is a Plot Character, they may attack you. If you pay, the check is guaranteed to succeed.

Kirk entered the red-light district. According to the Newbie Guide, this was where Contractors had to go to upgrade their skills. It was packed with casinos. What left him speechless was that the only place with a hall where Contractors could enhance themselves was the red-light district, with its casinos and brothels!

The Dimension's intentions were far too sinister.

Just imagine. A homebody with only 10,000 points to his name saw the extravagance of the casinos and the seductive sights of the brothels. Could he really stop himself from heading into the training hall?

Kirk knew himself well. He wasn't a man of strong will. (During one Will check in the beginner scenario, Kirk had somehow managed to score a jaw-dropping 2 points!) So he ignored the blond, long-legged beauties in three-piece outfits who were teasing him, and darted into the Upgrade Hall like a frightened rabbit.

After struggling to catch his breath for a long while, Kirk pinched his thigh until it hurt. Only then did his little brother reluctantly lie down, allowing him to trudge over to the skill exchange counter.

Heaven knew how a homebody in his twenties could resist such a bevy of beauties. The pretty young women behind the counter were giggling at the sight of him.

"Which skill would you like to upgrade?" The woman's voice rang like an oriole's song.

Kirk took a deep breath. Damn this Dimension. How was a poor homebody supposed to think straight? After considering it for a while, he pulled out the skill exchange table from the Newbie Guide (see the "Contractor Skills" entry in the basic settings under Works and Related).

"Can I only upgrade skills here?"

"Yes." The woman showed not the slightest impatience with a beginner. It seemed Survival Points held as much power as money did in the real world.

"Then, please calculate how many Survival Points and Skill Potential Points it would take to upgrade a basic skill from level 2 to level 5."

"It would take 5,500 Survival Points and 8 Skill Potential Points." The beauty looked a little surprised. Not many people exchanged enough to upgrade a skill to level 5 in one go, and she'd never seen a newcomer spend so freely.

But what happened next thrilled her even more. The homebody across from her, who looked like a bit of a fool, spent ages counting on his fingers with a pained expression.

"Hmm, let's start by upgrading [Basic Small Knife Mastery], [Basic Physical Defense Mastery], and [Basic Melee Combat] to level 5." Kirk spoke slowly.

The beauty's eyes widened, and her long lashes trembled. Her voice lost its composure. "Contractor No. 4444, do you mean you want to upgrade all three basic skills to level 5 in one go? That would cost 16,500 Survival Points and 24 Skill Potential Points!"

"Yeah." Kirk didn't notice the woman's reaction. He was still agonizing over the Survival Points he'd have to spend.

The beautiful woman felt dizzy. She'd seen plenty of beginners who spent ages agonizing over whether to upgrade a single level 2 skill. Now this guy wanted to upgrade three basic skills to level 5 all at once! In this Dimension, level 5 skills marked the dividing line between Contractors and rookies. Reaching level 5 in any basic skill meant graduating from beginner status and joining the ranks of Las Vegas's mainstay Contractors. And this guy was buying three at once.

The beauty was still reeling when a mature woman approached with graceful steps. She had delicate features, a cool demeanor, and a snug office suit that hugged her curvaceous figure and long legs. Her heels clicked crisply against the floor as she walked up to the counter. Seeing the two of them staring blankly, she furrowed her brows. "Yuqing, what are you standing there for? Why aren't you helping the customer?"

Yuqing turned her head. "Sister Hanyu, this customer wants to upgrade three basic attributes to level 5 at once."

"What!" Even Hanyu, a senior client manager, was taken aback. A newcomer wanted to buy that many upgrades?

Kirk finally sensed that the atmosphere had changed. He was used to being a homebody, and the class beauty had never even looked at him. He'd never imagined that one day a group of top-tier beauties, each twenty times more stunning than a movie star, would all have their eyes fixed on him.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Hanyu's voice was soft and honeyed, with the moist sweetness of a Jiangnan beauty.

From beneath the beautiful client manager's blouse, Kirk caught sight of her snowy cleavage and deep décolletage. The homebody nearly collapsed. He lowered his head in mortification. "Is that okay? Or not?"

Yuqing couldn't help letting out a giggle. Hanyu shot her a look, and she stifled it, leaning over the desk with her chest heaving as she struggled to keep from laughing.

"Of course. No problem. May I have your name?"

"Kirk." Kirk finally mustered the courage to look at the beautiful senior supervisor. This woman was so stunning she could bring ruin to a kingdom. Even he was struggling to handle it. (Voice of Mystery: Your Will is only 2, and you're a homebody. Who do you think you can handle? Could you handle Pheobe?)

"Of course. Please come with me to the VIP room."

Once they reached the VIP room, Kirk finally broke.

The setting was simply too perilous. It was full of beauties! Kirk had once visited the headquarters of a certain Cosmic Center bank and seen a room full of beautiful women. Still, he'd dare swear that any woman here could crush every female celebrity on Earth.

Kirk's heart rate shot up to 200 beats per minute, and his thoughts began to jumble.

A conspiracy! This was absolutely a conspiracy! A blatant conspiracy!

"Have you finally reached your limit?" In Kirk's mind came images of the many men who'd fought to the death, of blood-covered warriors collapsing beneath the high heels of femme fatales, their hearts full of resentment.

"Mr. Kirk, you're a major client. You can come straight here in the future. Please, have a seat." Hanyu led Kirk into the bright, spacious VIP room and poured him a cup of tea with gentle courtesy.

Kirk was still doing his best to resist the mature beauty's charms. Otherwise, would he end up being devoured whole?

Kirk looked around. The décor wasn't especially extravagant, but every detail was exquisite and perfect. The woman who owned this place had excellent taste.

"It's no wonder Yuqing was so surprised. It's rare for a newcomer to exchange this many skills at once." Hanyu spoke softly. "Have you made up your mind?"

"Yes." Kirk tried to fight off his wandering thoughts and decided to get it over with quickly. In his eyes, Hanyu had become a far more terrifying presence than the Walker King.

Hanyu watched Kirk's evasive gaze with an amused smile.

"As you wish!"

A vast universe appeared before Kirk's eyes. A gentle yet powerful force enveloped him, and then he felt a rush of warmth rise inside him and course through his body. Countless scenes of bloody battles filled his vision: slashing with blades, hunting prey, blocking with shields. The skills that had once seemed muddled grew clearer. It was as though the Dimension were transmitting thousands of years of human combat experience straight into his mind!

His gaze cleared. [Basic Small Knife Mastery], [Basic Physical Defense Mastery], and [Basic Melee Combat] were all now level 5!

[Basic Small Knife Mastery] level 5: Improves mastery of daggers, long daggers, military knives, wrist blades, and other small melee blades. Increases attack damage by 25% and attack speed by 25%.

[Basic Physical Defense Mastery] level 5: Improves mastery of defensive equipment other than shields, granting a defense bonus and reducing the physical damage sustained by the Contractor by 25%.

[Basic Melee Combat] level 5: Improves mastery of melee weapons, passively increasing melee damage by 25% and critical hit rate by 25%.

"When a skill reaches level 5, it always presents its first skill branch selection. This determines the direction of your career. There are no fixed professions in the Dimension. You need to build your future combat role around your skills," Hanyu explained in her soft voice.

"You can choose a skill branch later, or choose one now. If you don't choose, it will remain available forever and won't disappear." She smiled as she explained.

Kirk decided to think about it later. His mind was a mess, and choosing randomly could be disastrous.

"Right, there's something else." Kirk had already thrown caution to the wind, and his expression was much calmer. "I'd also like to upgrade [Basic Footwork Mastery] from level 1 to level 5. How much would that cost?"

Hanyu's beautiful eyes widened again. This newbie was becoming harder and harder to figure out. Judging by his expression, he was clearly an inexperienced young man. Just surviving the brutal beginner trial was already a miracle. And now he was sitting on so many resources.

Her slender fingers tapped at the keyboard. "Hmm, it would cost 7,000 Survival Points and 10 Skill Potential Points."

"I'll buy it."

Kirk was once again plunged into the Dimension's hallucinatory enhancement process. A gazelle leaping, a leopard crouching, a lynx moving nimbly, a steed galloping—one by one, they appeared before his eyes. When his mind cleared, a notification appeared.

[Basic Footwork Mastery] level 5: Increases walking and running speed by 25% and evasion by 25%.

Then Kirk remembered Michonne's incredibly powerful dark blue blade and decided to upgrade [Basic Medium Blade Mastery] to level 5 as well. The beautiful Hanyu was so excited she'd gone numb. As a senior supervisor, she earned only 1,000 Survival Points a month. That was already a high income in Las Vegas. The commission she'd make from the charming Mr. Kirk's skill purchases alone would far exceed two months' wages.

[Basic Medium Blade Mastery] level 5: Improves mastery of knives, swords, rapiers, Japanese swords, greatswords, axes, and other weapons. Increases their damage by 25% and attack speed by 25%.

Kirk had spent another 7,000 Survival Points and 10 Skill Potential Points.

After a bout of wild spending, Kirk had spent a total of 30,500 Survival Points and 44 Skill Potential Points to upgrade five skills to level 5. He had 25,500 Survival Points and 8 Skill Potential Points left. Kirk was speechless, but he still decided to keep strengthening his Advanced Skill, [Throat Cut].

[Throat Cut] was his main combat skill. It had tremendous burst damage and had repeatedly helped him achieve great things. As one of his strongest trump cards, he needed to keep upgrading it.

When he asked Hanyu about it, her heart was thrown into turmoil. Advanced Skills were powerful main combat skills. Many handsome men who pursued her claimed to be the team's main damage dealers, yet not one of them had an Advanced Skill. This newcomer had actually managed to get one.

"I'm sorry, but Advanced Skills can't currently be upgraded here. They're primarily acquired through personal insight or instruction from Plot Characters, and the Dimension's combat skill database doesn't have enough information on them," Hanyu explained patiently.

Kirk nodded. He then chose to upgrade [Basic Small Arms Mastery]. Hanyu smiled brightly as Kirk spent 5,500 Survival Points and 8 Skill Potential Points to raise it to level 5.

[Basic Small Arms Mastery] level 5: Improves mastery of pistols, large-caliber pistols, and machine pistols. Increases damage by 25% and shooting accuracy by 25%.

They said that when the wind blew, the eggshells went, leaving people at peace. After a bout of wild spending with the beautiful Hanyu, Kirk had drained himself completely. (Hanyu protested coyly: "What do you mean I drained you dry?") He now had 20,000 Survival Points left, while his Skill Potential Points had been completely used up—not a single point remained.